The Swiss National Council has voted in favour of a law designed to cap the data roaming charges applied by mobile providers in Switzerland. In follows a recent report by Watson which revealed that internet and phone users from the alpine nation often pay 30 times more for roaming data than people from France.
It’s something that can leave you seriously out of pocket: you’ve just come back from holiday, noticed that the country you visited was not part of your data plan and realised you let your mobile update itself completely every day. Now, the government is seeking to limit how much providers can charge for extra roaming data.
By 116 votes to 68, the National Council (Swiss lower house) approved a plan that would see a maximum limit imposed on roaming charges. While it is unclear what the maximum roaming charge would be, the plan is already being sent to the Council of States (upper house) for debate and a vote, which is expected on August 28.
Supporters noted that those who don’t have roaming as part of their mobile package, or forget to switch roaming off when on holiday, can face quadruple-digit bills when they return home. Watson noted that, without a subscription with roaming included, a gigabyte of data in Europe using Salt. costs 2.950 francs. This is at a time when all European Union members have already scrapped roaming charges on visitors from other EU states.
"The price of a gigabyte is 30 times cheaper in France than in Switzerland, and even 60 times cheaper in Italy" noted Jean Tschopp from the French Federation of Consumers. He told Watson that, with inflation remaining a problem in Switzerland, official regulation of roaming charges would be a beneficial step forward.
“Today, roaming costs are still far too high” noted National Councillor Valerie Piller Carrard. For many supporters, prices for roaming are still high, especially considering the cost differences between package-included and extra roaming data overseas.
In response, opponents like National Councillor Josef Dittli pointed out that complaints about roaming charges have dropped significantly in recent years, as customers who want to set a limit on unwanted roaming charges are already able to do so thanks to a law passed in 2021. National Councillor Charles Julliard also questioned whether there was a “need to act” at all.